QUICK BITES

Absinthe, the acro-burlesque variety show, will be in South Florida for nine weeks, beginning Dec. 20. It will be housed in the mirrored and brocade Spiegeltent in Collins Park at 22nd Street and Collins Avenue, adjacent to the Bass Museum in Miami.

Before each show, patrons can drink and dine in Spiegelworld's Green Room Restaurant under the auspices of the nearby Raleigh Hotel.

Of course, the show is named for that potent liqueur absinthe, also known as green fairy and bottled madness. It has been the inspiration and fed the insanity of artists from Baudelaire to Degas before facing a ban that lasted nearly a century.

For more information on Absinthe, the show, visit spiegelworld.com.

-- Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

Taking notice of black chefs

Cuisine Noir launched its second online issue with stories about some of the country's top black culinary professionals. It is the vision of publisher/chef Richard Pannell, who over the years noticed that there was a lack of black chefs on television and in magazines.

"Cuisine Noir is all about seeing our faces and hearing our voices as it relates to the culinary industry," Pannell says. Published bi-monthly, this magazine explores ethnic cuisines and the people behind them.

Cuisine Noir's December issue spotlights Michele Hoskins from Michele's Foods in Chicago. Michele struggled to make ends meet and then built a multimillion-dollar empire from a recipe she inherited from her great-great-grandmother.

In addition, the careers of chefs Gaston Merideth and Karla Lacey-Minors are featured. There's a review of a San Francisco restaurant and the Sterling family is the focus of the wine review. They are a black family that built a very successful winery.

Visit cuisinenoir.com.

- D. S. H.-S.

Lost & found

FOUND: Dutch chocolate letters for Heidi Melius, of Wilton Manors, were found by Marinus Visser, Sunrise; Mary Ann Koopman, Boca Raton; Amy Deen, Miami; and Judy Felicetty, Hollywood, who buy them at Vander Veen's The Dutch Store, Grand Rapids, Mich., thedutchstore.com or 800-813-9538. The letters are available in milk or bittersweet chocolate. Prices range from $1.79 for 2.25-ounce letters to $3.49 for the 4.75-ounce ones (plus shipping and handling).

If you are looking for a lost food item or know a local source for one still at large, write Lost & Found, Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-2293. Or, send an e-mail to judithstocksreviews@yahoo.com. Put "Lost and Found" in the subject line and include your name, address and phone number. Due to volume, not all requests are published, nor can we personally respond.